Many large machines used for mining, excavation, ground preparation, and other large scale tasks must be carefully maintained to ensure proper performance for the operator and to ensure continued compliance with appropriate standards and regulations. Due to the complex nature of such machines, they are typically maintained by specialized personnel rather than by the operator him or herself. When maintenance is needed, there is traditionally a process of ceding control of the machine from the operator to the maintaining personnel (herein “maintainer” or “service technician”) prior to maintenance, and of ceding control back to the operator when the required maintenance is complete. The steps typically required before service can be performed on a machine are referred to as lock-out/tag-out procedures. Such procedures may include turning the engine off, putting the machine transmission in park/neutral and so on.
The inventors have observed, however, that there is a risk of injury in the lock-out/tag-out process, in that personnel involved in the task must typically climb onto or get close to the machine to access a manual lock or other lockout mechanism. Although certain attempts have been made by others to improve the safety of personnel in such situations, none have been entirely successful in this endeavor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,410,101 entitled “Technical Safety Confirmation” teaches a system for providing a safety confirmation or hazard warning to a technician in the field by scanning an equipment identification label and comparing the identification to a schedule of equipment inactivation times. The systems and methods of the '101 patent may also provide remote interactions to reschedule deactivations or to protect the technician from hazardous conditions.
Nonetheless, the '101 patent does not provide a fully satisfactory solution. For example, the system of the '101 patent does not ensure that the machine is in a safe location prior to initiating maintenance. As may be appreciated from reading the following disclosure, there are other areas as well in which the '101 patent system falls short.
The present disclosure is directed to a system that addresses one or more of the problems set forth above. However, it should be appreciated that the solution of any particular problem is not a limitation on the scope of this disclosure nor of the attached claims except to the extent expressly noted. Additionally, the inclusion of any problem or solution in this Background section is not an indication that the problem or solution represents known prior art except as otherwise expressly noted.